Malawi is a food basket but lacks leaders of vision

Going into the markets and homes of Malawians one cannot believe it is the very country that has been going about with a bowl in hand begging for handouts. The food that is plenty now abruptly ends within a short period of time because our country has no long term plans for good harvesting. Tourists and visitors that come during this period get amazed when they get back to their countries reading in newspapers and televisions that the country is devastated by hunger.

USAID Mission Director, Doug Arbuckle being briefed on varieties of maize produced in Malawi on agicultural produce displays at Nathenje-(c) Abel Ikiloni, mana

Most people wonder where the abundant food we have now may have gone to? To say that we finish eating the abundant maize, abundant ground nuts, abundant mangoes, abundant tomatoes, abundant beans and all crops that we farm in Malawi can be exaggerating the fact is most of them go to waste because we have no capability to harvest them to feed us the entire year plus.

Malawi is not a poor country, here I want to concur with late president Bingu Wa Mutharika. It is lack of knowledge and capability to use what we have for us to develop and have food security. Malawi is an amazing nation, we have a fertile soil that produces tasty and abundant food only that our leadership are blind to think of the future but think of their own pockets. This country has abundant water, has abundant minerals has resources that if nationalised to serve the mass our country can swear not to be poor anymore.

Government lack innovative mechanisms, is stingy against common man and woman who have capabilities to do something, have not liberalized the minds of citizens to make them innovate. Have tied financial loopholes so that citizens cannot find a breathing space to innovate in food harvesting in agriculture and mineral resources. These tied belts are making our citizens look vulnerable when we are not. We have anything and everything that can economically empower our citizens to sustain in food storage as well as food production but we lack government support and incentives for self innovation, hence food being produced to waste.

Malawi needs and require technology of advanced nature so that we can store food for years there by producing food that will live for ages in stocks.

First of all the blame goes to myopia of government leaders who by default or by design make our country poor. To say that education is poor in Malawi is wrong our country has had the best education system eversince Independence thanks to visionary Kamuzu Banda for the best foundation though it was not a blanket project but we are a nation of a name on this sector.

What lacks among our leadership is long term vision into the future. In today’s life food production is the only wealthiest means towards economic growth more than mining industry. The world is more concerned over food than any other sector.

On food production comes the wisdom of how do we preserve and harvest water, how do we harness energy and harvest solar power. All these comes because the world is touched and concerned over food security. Malawi could be one of the players and attract volumes of Foreign Direct Investment on this sector of food production had we had innovative ideas.

Many may blame the author of these articles that am anti-government of the day but let us be more pragmatic our leadership eversince multiparty dispensation have failed our country. Yes for 31 years Kamuzu Banda may have made mistakes but he was alone. There was no opposition and we had no plural politics but 23 years later we have had a living parliament, a sound and perfect democracy why are we still poor; yet the street markets are shying us with abundant food only for two months the rest ten months are agonizing and hunger striking. It is time those in power ask themselves questions.

“Are you in state house with a good cause or bad cause? Are you doing our country a service or disservice? Why is the country scattered with corruption and state theft involving the most high?” If it is bad why don’t you stop it? Failing to stop it shows that the hierachy and everyone holding position in the government is benefiting from it.

Time has come when we must use innovation as a means to make our country prosperous. We have water that when harvested can be exported. We have various crops that can be harvested in bulks to be used locally and for export too. All these can stop our perennial hunger and suffering.

The only thing that is dragging our country behind is greediness, stingeness and corruption. The attitude of stealing and keep the stolen money outside the country is tragedy number one. The attitude of selfishness of not promoting innovation to make citizens own and utilize their knowledge is our tragedy number two. The mentality of making the few ruling elite rich through dubious means through theft and deny citizens chance to access financial incentives is our tragedy number three.

The world has moved from stone age to iron age, now it has swiftly moved from iron to technological digital age not because of the scarcity of stones and iron but because enough room has been provided for citizens’ innovation.

Until Malawi start allowing and permit the flow of information, innovation and free thinking to flourish and gather momentum shall we become a nation of ideas. In the absence of this we will remain a begging and poorest nation on Earth.

Saunders Jumah the Utopian
SAVE MALAWI FOUNDATION (SAMAFO) with our hands we can destroy our nation but with our very hands we can save Malawi.